Skeletons Can't Cry
by peachdoxie
Summary: Hector Rivera's experience in the land of the dead


All Hector Rivera wants is to go home and see his family. Then he dies. He wakes up in the land of the dead. What's left of his family takes him in, greeting him warmly and making fun of him for dying by chorizo. At his first Día de Muertos as a skeleton, Hector thinks he'll be able to go home and see Coco and Imelda again. All the hype comes from his friends in the land of the dead about the excitement Hector will feel at being able to see his family for the first time in a while. Then Hector walks through the detector in whatever form it took and…denied. Hector isn't on anyone's ofrenda. Not Imelda's and not Ernesto's. There's no way for him to cross over the bridge and he has no idea why. He knows they're not also there in the land of the dead. Nothing makes sense.

Year after year he tries and still Hector can't make it through. His small family all fades as they're forgotten, leaving Hector alone as the last of their line besides Coco. Finally, one of Imelda's relatives dies before she does and explains that Imelda refused to put his picture on her ofrenda. Hector's crushed, but there's nothing he or Imelda's family can do. They barely want to talk to him, anyway, thinking that Hector abandoned his family, and fearing Imelda's wrath once she passes and arrives. So Hector is once again left alone with no family and no way to see his wife or daughter again. Only this time, Hector knows that the reason he's not on Imelda's ofrenda is because she wants nothing to do with him. Eventually, he stops trying.

Hector is grateful that skeletons can't cry.

Ernesto dies before Imelda does, in that tragic accident, and Hector thinks that maybe he can get answers from his old friend. What happened after he died? What did Ernesto tell Imelda? But, of course, Ernesto de la Cruz is so famous that a beat-up nobody who lives in the shantytown isn't going to stand a chance of talking to him, even if he claims that he was once Ernesto's best friend. And, of course, Ernesto never reaches out to try and find Hector. Hector is left wondering _why does Ernesto ignore me? What did I do to him too?_

Years pass, and Ernesto makes himself at home in the shantytown among those who have no family and no ofrenda. It's not too bad, all things considered. There's always someone to talk to, many of them friendly. Hector probably stayed in some pretty run down places as a traveling musician, so it's not totally unfamiliar to him. He plays borrowed guitars and sings for his new friends almost every evening. It reminds him of before he set out with Ernesto. The intimacy of playing with someone he cares for, without the pressure of a large audience. But there's always the looming sense of loss in the shantytown. People pass the final death all the time. There's no telling exactly when someone will go. For some, it's a longer process as the only remaining person from their life ages and forgets. But for others, it can come suddenly, without warning. Hector knows that it could happen to him, too.

As each of Imelda's family passes, Hector tries to get information from them about how Imelda and Coco are doing. They also turn him away, and it hurts, though he's used to it by now. When Hector can't get someone to talk to him, he sometimes finds a way to eavesdrop on the Rivera family's conversations, sitting on balconies next to open windows late at night. He learns about Imelda's shoe business and is proud of his wife for making something for herself as a young mother by herself. He hears about how Coco is growing into a beautiful and kind young woman.

Then it happens. Imelda Rivera arrives in the land of the dead to celebration by her relatives who preceded her. When he hears about it, Hector timidly arrives at the Rivera household, hoping to talk to Imelda. He brings a guitar borrowed from Chicharron in the hopes that Imelda will forgive him for leaving her. He can apologize and tell her that he wanted to come home, but died before he could. Hector, from his eavesdropping, knows that Imelda never remarried. He can tell Imelda that he still loves her.

But before Hector can even say anything beyond Imelda's name, she's stalking over to him with her skirt hiked up so that she won't trip. Even though he hasn't seen her in years, she's still so beautiful. Imelda pulls her finely crafted boot off and slaps him in the face with it. "Do not ever show your face around here again!" she yells. "You made your choice to leave this family!" Hector is thrown out on the sidewalk and Imelda turns to leave.

Desperate and on his knees, Hector pulls up his guitar and starts to a play a song that he knows intimately. "Remember me, though I have to say goodbye." Imelda pauses, and Hector feels a moment of hope that just maybe…. "Remember me." But no. Imelda just steps inside and slams the door behind her.

None of Imelda's family see her tears, since skeletons can't cry.

It's that night that Hector gives up music. Music broke them apart and music couldn't bring them back together. He gives the borrowed guitar back to Chicharron and refuses to sing anymore. No one asks. It's an unspoken rule that no one in the shantytown asks questions when someone is grieving.

Afterwards, Hector tries to move on. He stops going to Imelda's house to listen to their conversations. He stops asking newly deceased Riveras about Coco. He avoids Ernesto, since clearly the celebrity wants nothing to do with him. Hector makes new friends and says goodbye to old ones and knows that his time is limited. He tries to forget the Rivera family.

The years pass until, one day, Hector feels a tremor. He doesn't consciously notice it, and in the daylight no one can see the glow. But still, something changes. Hector starts thinking about Coco for the first time in decades. He counts off the years. She must be in her nineties now. Maybe after all this time, now that Imelda has passed, his picture will be on her ofrenda. Maybe he can see her once again, even if she, too, doesn't want anything to do with him.

At the next Día de Muertos, Hector waits until Imelda and the Riveras have left for their ofrenda before walking to the checkpoint. He doesn't want to accidentally run into them. With a small but of hope he doesn't want to let grow, Hector waits in line before he makes it to the scanner. They've been updated since he was last here.

It's his turn. Hector walks up, hesitantly, to the scanner. He smiles awkwardly at the attendant, nervously adjusting his tattered suit jacket. The attendant presses a button and the scanner buzzes.

The machine beeps loudly. With an exaggerated sigh, the attendant says, "I'm sorry. It doesn't seem that you're on anyone's ofrenda."

"That has to be a mistake. Could you- could you try again?"

The attended presses the button once more. "I'm sorry, but our scanners couldn't find your picture on an ofrenda."

"Well," Hector begins. He puts on his most charming smile and leans on the counter. "Do you think you could let that slide, just this once?"

The attendant shakes her head. "I'm sorry, señor, but I can't let you through."

Hector drops the smile and lowers his voice. "Look. I'll be honest with you. My daughter is old. She's the only one who remembers me. If she dies, I'll fade and I'll never see her again. Please, just let me through."

The attendant shakes her head once more. "I'm sorry, señor, but there are rules to follow. I have to ask you to return to the land of the dead. We have several hundred other people to check tonight."

With a glare, Hector leaves, but he can't hold the glare for long. He shoves his hands in his pockets and heads for the shantytown. Coco doesn't want him on her ofrenda. Still, Hector wants to see her, just one last time. On the walk home, he starts thinking of ways to cheat the system next year in an effort to make it home to Coco.

But even with a small glimmer of hope burning inside, Hector wishes that, for once, skeletons could cry.


End file.
